And all this occured during the victorian era in England, Livingston was a missionary sent to Africa by the crown for the sole purpose of furthering the empire's ideals, and his works and adventures were questioned by many legit anthropologists in his day. Eugenics was also a result of that period, and so was the anti-eugenics movement. The very same British scientists who advocated for Eugenics(their measure of superiority was based on cultural practices and norms, not a permanent fixture as race) were appaled at the extreme racial twist scientists in the US gave the studies in the early 20th century and started to dismiss it. In the new world, racial superiority of whites was already so embedded in everyday culture such that eugenics was to be viewed solely via racial lenses.
Also, racial superiority by Europeans was always an argument they had, from the common man to the academic, despite that, anthropolgical studies have always been going on in Africa regardless and there has always been interest. From Jauma Ferrer to Mungo Park, extremely biased findings started during the height of victorian britain due to colonial interests, and met some resistance still during those times.